chinaski's TravelStream™ — Recent TravelPod.com entries

chinaski's TravelStream™ — Recent TravelPod.com entries TravelStream™ news feed for member chinaski on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/chinaski en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Wed, 26 Aug 2009 14:20:19 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com Quick trip to Alghero; first approach to Sardinia — Alghero, Sardinia, Italy http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chinaski/8/1251303035/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chinaski/8/1251303035/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chinaski/8/1251303035/tpod.html Wed, 26 Aug 2009 14:20:19 -0400 A piece of Europe

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Alghero, Sardinia, Italy

August 6If you ask me for the reason why we end our trip in Sardinia, its answer is very easy: it was the cheapest way to come back home. Direct flights from Graz to Barcelona were costed a fortune, but if we went first to Alghero and from there to Barcelona, the flight was extremely cheaper. So it could be said that we're in Sardinia on the rebound. Our flight to Barcelona departs at 8.20 p.m so we have almost the whole day to see Alghero. My friend and I knew of Alghero because at school we were taught that in that small sardinian town catalan language was spoken. Teachers taught proudly about the catalan history of Alghero, and how a group of bourgeois from Barcelona got settled in the town and disseminated catalan language and culture. So it could be said that we had "something" with Alghero; we felt Alghero's people are a bit from Barcelona, or maybe we're a bit from Alghero? It may seem a silly thing but the fact that Alghero is called "Barcelonetta" brings a kind of connection between catalan people and the town.Well, I think I'd better stop going on! Without sleeping a wink we wait for the airport office tourist opens to get some maps and info. Alghero is a very small town but it has several things to see and we want to make the most of our time here. First thing: going to the train station to leave our backpacks on the left-luggage office (yes, there no baggage room in the airport...). Bus from Fertilia airport to the city centre just costs 70 cents and it takes about 20 minutes. Once in town, we do the most essencial thing you have to do when you're in Sardinia: going to the beach! It's very early in the morning so we want to stay for a while at the beach and later visit the town. Alghero's has several beautiful beaches, but most of them are located at the outskirts; the nearest beach is called Lido, and it has nothing in particular, but is quite nice and just 10 minutes walk from the old town. The best thing of Sardinia's beaches are their white sand and their transparent waters. You can perfectly see the bottom of the sea and the fishes and seaweeds. Besides, Lido is very clean even though it's full of bathers; complete families of tourists and locals spend the hot days there. Ah, by the way: it's a safe beach too, because we fell asleep from THREE HOURS and we weren't robbed (in my country if you fall asleep on the beach you will go home with nothing but the clothes on...)At midday -after falling asleep at the beach- we go to visit the old town of Alghero: what a pretty thing!! we couldn't suspect that town was so beautiful! Mix brown colour with stones and palm trees and you will obtain Alghero. The old town is lovely and crafty; it looks a bit like La Valletta (Malta) to me. Seeing such a gorgeous old town climbing up to the sea is really moving!We walk through the seafront and we're pestered by the hawkers [bracelets, dresses, sunglasses, hats, earrings... they'll try to sell you anything, and they're willing to haggle]. In the old town the first thing you find is Piazza Cívica, the main square of Alghero, wide, clean and full of old buildings, gelatterias, cafés and souvenir shops, and where you can find the beautiful Palazzo d'Albis.Then we walk through the cozy narrow cobbled streets, a delight for the walkers. Every street has its own charm, but I would say that the most beautiful streets are Via Carlo Alberto, Via Principe Umberto and Via Roma. As Sardinia belongs to Italy, it has many catholic churches and chapels. The biggest one is la Catedrale di Santa Maria, huge and with a gothic-catalan style (in fact, it looks like a huge catalan "masia" -rural house-). You can see the Church of San Francesco too, simple and lovely.As Alghero is a fortified town, you can see parts of the city wall, very well preserved, and few bastions: Bastione della Madalena, Bastione di Marco Polo and the Bastione of Columbus. Finally the Tower of St. Erasmus and the Piazza Sulis really worth a visit.Bear in mind that Alghero is a small town, so everything can be visited in a few hours and you can go everywhere by walk, 'cause everything is close to everything. The only problem is the heat, it's stifling!At 6 p.m we go to the train station to take our backpacks and from there we take the bus to the airport. WARNING!: don't trust the official timetable!! actually buses pass when they feel like it! so if you don't want to get stressed for being late to take your flight, then stay at the bus stop well in advance. We went into hysterics because we had to wait for the airport bus for almost 45 minutes, when in theory it passes every 15 minutes. We arrived at the airport right when our flight is boarding. We cross the terminal as fast as possible and arrive the last at the boarding gate, just when the air hostesses are about to close the gate. By the skin of our teeth! One hour later we are in Spain and our trip has officialy finished. I'll never forget it; for all the troubles we've had, for all the strokes of luck, for all the nice people we've met, for all the awesome places we've seen and for all the things we've learned. This trip will be engraved at my heart and my soul and I'm so glad to have discovered all of those cities and towns... I can't wait to go on a long trip again! It keeps me alive!!
]]> Raining cats and dogs in Graz — Graz, Styria, Austria http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chinaski/8/1251214607/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chinaski/8/1251214607/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chinaski/8/1251214607/tpod.html Tue, 25 Aug 2009 13:34:13 -0400 A piece of Europe

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Graz, Styria, Austria

August 3Trains from Ljubljana to Graz (Austria) departs very frequently; there are several trains every day and fare is 31,40€. In theory the trip takes about 3 hours... HA! actually it takes 4 hours and 45 minutes, because you have to change to another train at Maribor, on the slovenian border.Man, Austria really can't stand us! it looks like a joke: the day we arrived in Vienna from Bratislava it started raining immediatly when we crossed the austrian border, and now that we're entering Austria from Slovenia... it starts raining cats and dogs! I think we're not welcome in this country... :S We arrive at the hostel at 6.30 p.m and all we can do is leaving our bags in the room and throw ourselves in the bed and stare at the ceiling. Hours go by and it's still pouring with rain outside. Finally we decide to go to "City Park", a shopping mall next to the hostel, just because staying in the room doing nothing is really boring.We take our umbrellas but it's useless, by the end we get completely soaked because of the strong wind.We stay at the mall till night. When they close we go back to the hostel and we ask in the reception for some table-games; they have lots and lots of them but the great majority are in german. Perfect... Tonight is gonna be sooo long...August 4 It's has been raining the whole night and it seems today it's not gonna stop either.Breakfast is included in the price of the room so we take it easy and hoard bread, cheese and nutella for the rest of the day. Hey, Graz is a expensive city and we can't afford a meal in a restaurant! The best thing is that the breakfast buffet is excellent; several types of bread, cold meats (not for me, as I'm a vegetarian), cheese, salads, yoghurt, coffee, tea, milk, juices, fruit, jam, nutella... really really good. After breakfast we take a shower and wait for the rain stops. It never happens, so finally at midday we decide taking our useless umbrellas and go to do some sightseeing. It's not very convenient touring around carrying an umbrella, bags and the camera, but we have no choice if we want to see the city. It's a pity, because Graz really shows promise; it's clean, small, it has interesting buildings and cosy streets, etc. Really pretty, green, surrounded by mountains and divided by river Mur... but the weather is not on our side. Even so, we visit Haupsplatz, the City Hall, beautiful Sporgasse and we take the lift to Schlossberg to see the Clock Tower, There is also a funicular to arrive on top of the hill but I think is better to take the modern lift 'cause is faster and cheaper (the lift just costs 70 cents and the funicular about 2€). Schlossberg is the treasure of Graz; sights are amazing, you can see the whole city from there and the high mountains that surrounds it. Besides, the park (or should I say "forest") is gorgeous and the Clock Tower seems like taken out from a fairy tale. You can't stop taking pictures form every angle!  I'm afraid river Mur is gonna overflow; the water level is very high and the current flows violently. I'm recording it with my camera and, suddenly, I see some guys surfing on the river! wow!! Actually there are reckless people in the world... but it's funny!At night we go back to the hostel and spend another "exciting" night playing table-games *cough*Neptune must be laughing his head off...August 5Well, well, this is coming to an end. This evening we're taking a flight to Alghero (Sardinia, Italy) so we still have several hours to visit Graz, And you know what? It doesn't rain! Last night it still was pouring with rain but early in the morning it stopped and now it's just cloudy. Well, it's better than nothing!We go to Jakominiplatz and from there we walk to Kaiser-Josef Platz to see the daily street market; this is a must if you want to see the real life of the locals. There are people selling fruit, sausages, cheese, bread, flowers... it's really lively and it's worth a visit although you don't buy anything. Then we walk through Burgasse to the Cathedral (pompous, as all cathedrals are) and Graz Castle, which is austere but it has nice gardens and you can go up to the castle's tower. The characteristic thing of the Tower is its Double Spiral Staircase, the only one in the world. Finally we pay 2€ and we enter to the Mausoleum, which is located just next to the Cathedral. It's nothing special but the view from the top of the tower is nice. In the afternoon we go back to the hostel, carry our backpacks and go to the bus stop to go to the airport. Once there we eat our "breakfast sandwich" and kill time till the boarding hour. The flight from Graz to Alghero takes about 1 hour and a half and it's really calm, no turbulence, no frights, no delays. Perfect. We arrive to Alghero Fertilia Airport at 10 p.m and we have to sleep there because hostels in the city are very expensive. We're used to sleep in airports, so we don't have any problem... well, yeah, maybe the mosquitos.The airport is small and quiet and we're hardly a soul there.
]]> TorTOURing Slovenia — Ljubljana, Slovenia http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chinaski/8/1250988073/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chinaski/8/1250988073/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chinaski/8/1250988073/tpod.html Sat, 22 Aug 2009 23:10:52 -0400 A piece of Europe

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Ljubljana, Slovenia

July 31The trip from Rovinj to Slovenia's capital, Ljubljana, takes about 5 hours and 45 minutes by bus. Once we get there we take a bus to go to our hostel, which is located on the suburbs. We leave our backpacks in the room and go for a walk. It takes 30 minutes by walk to go to the city centre. We'd like to stay in a hostel in the centre but the great majority of them are located in the suburbs, but well, after all 30 minutes is not so much time (we're young, we still can do it!). Ljubljana is so lovely and so decadent! I'm starting to think that I have such an indulgent taste, because I like everything I see in this trip! well, maybe is just that we have chosen a beautiful area of Europe, so everything is awesome... This city really makes it good to be alive, to walk, to smile, to shop, to eat, to breathe. I have my own theory: those cities which have a river crossing have a special charm, and Ljubljana has its river (Ljubljanica) and a collection of pretty bridges, low houses, cozy cafés and artisan shops. Although it's the country's capital, the city is quite small, so you never have to take buses, everything is easy reachable with a short walk, and Ljubljana is a city that makes it go to walk or ride a bike. Oh yeah, one complaint about the city: it's quite expensive! I thought Slovenia was a cheap country but we found that, at least in the capital, prices are quite high! Much more expensive than Croatia, Slovakia or Hungary, almost of the level of Spain. That restricts a bit our possibilities of shopping, drinking and eating out, but if you are a shrewd person you can find bargains... we did it, and we're not the smartest people in the world! At night we go to a pub called Skelet (written in a different way); it lives up to its reputation, because the whole pub is decorated with skeletons, skulls and gloomy paintings. The place doesn't have anything in particular, but there's a happy hour all the day - you buy 1 cocktail and get 2. The price of the cocktails is about 6,90€, so for less than 7€ you get 2 cocktails, which its not at all bad. We meet some slovenian guys and we ask them for places to go out. They recommend us Metelkova street and, oh dear, I swear one day I will build them an altar!! Metelkova is mind-blowing! too cool! too much!! The place consist in some old factories and abandoned warehouses that have been turned into discos and pubs. There's lots of clubs around an open-air area and every pub is decorated in a very eclectic and original way. It's very very alternative and if you feel attracted by the undergroung culture, you have to go to Metelkova. We spent a great time there, first in a rock/heavy pub and later in a serbian pub -very eclectic, I told you!). I earnestly recommend everybody who is visiting Ljubljana to move away a bit from the pubs of the riverside and go deep into Metelkova street, you will have no regrets!At 5 in the morning, when everything is closing, a slovenian guy we met at the rock pub takes us near the bus station to eat a bürek; a sort of thick pizza made with puff pastry and filled with a variety of ingredients (cheese, meat, vegetables...). The bürek is a yugoslavian specialty that has its origin in the ottoman period, and it's eaten in Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia and other countries. The guy tells us that in Ljubljana is typical to eat a bürek after going out at night, because it satisfies hunger, it's cheap (2€) and it's delicious! I guess is like in my city (Barcelona), after going out at night we use to eat samosa (pakistani pasty).Then the guy do us a favor a take us to the hostel by car. Thanks, thanks, THANKS!! August 1We wake up with a terrible hangover. Too many cocktails, beers and toxic shots last night! At midday we go to Ljubljana's Castle, which is on the top of a hill. You can take a funicular but I think is better to go by walk because is a short, easy and free way. The castle is medieval and gorgeous and the entrance is free. You can go up to the Tower (2€) and have the most impressive view of the city with its uniform, brown roofs and the winding river course dividing the old town and the new town.  In the castle there are several free painting exhibitions and a cute chapel. Later we go back to the city centre and walk through the riverside; we see the beautiful bridges, the most famous of them are the Triple Brigde, Dragons' Brigde and Cobblers' Bridge. Really nice. At night we go out for dinner to Stari trg and sit on the terrace of a restaurant (I can't remember the name, but it's cheap and the food is good, the only problem is that the waiters are quite slow and "absent-minded"). I earnestly recomment the crepes; I had one filled with feta cheese and tomato and it was delicious and it was huge, and just for 2,50€! After dinner we go to Trnovo district, near our hostel, where is taking place the "Trnfest"; a free open-air cultural festival. Tonight a slovenian band of new-tango is playing. They sound really good! The atmosphere is great, there are people from all ages enjoying the live music and drinking beer. Later a DJ is playing electroclash. The night shows promise!August 2We spend almost the whole day at Tivoli Park, the biggest park in Ljubljana. There's a lot of people sunbathing on the grass and rocking gently in hammocks. The sun shines in a rage so we do as locals do and take off our t-shirts and lie down on the grass. We have fruit and water, music and a book, there's no rush, we have the whole day for ourselves. Sooo we fall asleep till... 6 p.m!! Ljubljana is so small that you can see the whole city in just one day. Today it's our third day here, so we can take it easy.  At the evening we go to the city centre again to have a walk and listen to the street musicians.Later we have dinner in last night's restaurant (too good and quite cheap, although you have to wait for your meal for half an hour). Two spanish guys sit on the next table and we strike up a conversation with them. Then the slovenian guy we met at Metelkova phones us and few minutes later he joins us at the restaurant. We're having a good time so after having dinner we go to have a drink to a trendy pub next to the restaurant where the mixed drinks cost only 2€. They close at 1 in the morning, so we go to Skelet to make the most of the 2x1 cocktail offer hehe. At 3 o'clock the Skelet closes and the slovenian guy takes us to the Orto Bar - another big discovery in Ljubljana. The music is soooo good!! a paradise for rock lovers! The two spanish guys don't know what Metelkova is, so we take them but it seems that tonight there's no life in Metelkova. Shit... well, what can you do!   We say goodbye to the spaniards and the slovenian boy take us to the hostel. Tomorrow we're leaving Slovenia and we're feeling a little bit sad; this city and its people really have won our hearts! We will miss Ljubljana.
]]> Discovering Istria — Rovinj, Istria, Croatia http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chinaski/8/1250953131/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chinaski/8/1250953131/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chinaski/8/1250953131/tpod.html Sat, 22 Aug 2009 11:56:10 -0400 A piece of Europe

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Rovinj, Istria, Croatia

July 29At 8.30 p.m we arrive to Rovinj, another town in Croatia's Istria region. People we met during the trip told us that Rovinj was charming... and it's true, that's one of the most lovely places I've been. We get accomodation in the house of a local woman who works at the bus station. In Rovinj there's no hostels but once you arrive there is easy to find some place to sleep because people of the village offers rooms in their houses to the travelers. The house where we're staying is perfectly located in Karera, the main pedestrian street in Rovinj, just one minute far from the bus station. In Karera you can find everything you need: shops, cafés, art galleries, pubs, internet... Rovinj is a very turistic place, yeah, but it's AWESOME! The best thing it has are its narrow, cobbled streets. This place is a village, even smaller than Pula, and it's lively and clean. At first you look at the map and you think everything is sooo far, but then you realize that everything is just 5 minutes far from where you are. Nightlife is really exciting; there are thousands of restaurants and clubs on the seashore, but the true party is on Monvi, a recreational area located 15 minutes far from the centre. In Monvi you can find cinemas, restaurants, pubs and several discos with different kind of music, so everyone will spend a good time there. At 3 in the morning, when we're walking from Monvi to our house, we see a lunar eclipse and two shooting stars. And I swear we're not drunk!!July 30We wake up very late, go for a walk through the seafront and go the beach for a while. Well, the "beach" is not the exact word... let's say "few rocks infested with crabs". At 3 p.m we sit outside a bar and have some sandwiches and later we go to the old town. Wow! If I thought the seashore was beautiful, the rest of the town is just spectacular! I have a soft spot for small, low houses made of stone and for winding streets with the laundry hanging out... and that's what Rovinj is!! I think is my ideal town.  Rovinj doesn't have many monuments to see; the charm of the town is walking through its streets and its seashore, but if you're in Rovinj you must go up to the highest point: St. Eufemia's Cathedral. Saint Eufemia is the protector of Rovinj and from the cathedral you can see the whole town piled up in front of the sea. The view is marvelous, seriously. On our way to the seashore we find that Rovinj has a lot of artisans and artists exposing their works in small galleries. I love that atmosphere! The air is impregnated with lavender' scent because they sell bags of the flower everywhere (and lavender's scent gets mixep up with the smell of fried fish of the restaurants!).Once in the seashore, we do some shopping. As a touristic coast town, souvenir shops are open till 11 p.m or even later. My friend buys tons of presents. As for me, I just buy a magnet lol Tomorrow we're going to Slovenia, so we want to say goodbye to Croatia in style. We have a huge sundae dish under the moonlight and then have some mixed drinks in a pub with live music. I don't wanna leave, I don't wanna leave! but our trip must go on...
]]> Hi Croatia, my ass hurts... — Pula, Istria, Croatia http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chinaski/8/1250948251/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chinaski/8/1250948251/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chinaski/8/1250948251/tpod.html Sat, 22 Aug 2009 10:55:55 -0400 A piece of Europe

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Pula, Istria, Croatia

July 28We spend the whole day between trains and buses and my ass is on the point of throwing the towel but hey babe, be brave! we're almost there!In short, although Hungary and Croatia are neighboring countries, passing from one to another is a terrible odyssey; from Keszthely we had to go first to Balatonszentgeorgy. From there we had to take 2 trains to Zagreb, Croatia's capital (ticket: 17,90€). Upon crossing the border, the train stops for half an hour and the "Show of the Uniformed People" starts: first it's the hungarian passport controller's turn, next it's time for the hungarian customs control, the next one is the croatian passport controller, of course, and finally it's the croatian customs controller's turn. Oh my god! I want Croatia in the European Union NOW!! "Something to declare? What do you have in your bags?" "What do I have in my bag? Well sir, I have my pyjamas, some t-shirts, 7 pairs of dirty panties, 3 kg of cocaine and 10 illegal chinese to work at my clandestine workshop..." Finally, 3 hours later we arrive to Zagreb. We just stay there for 15 minutes, the right time to buy our tickets to Rijeka (13€). There's about 5-6 hours from Zagreb to Rijeka but the landscape is really beautiful so the journey is not tedious.Once in Rijeka we have to go to the bus station and buy our tickets to our final destination: PULA, the capital of the region of Istria, on the northwest of Croatia. The ticket costs 12,25€ and the journey takes about 3 hours. We have one hour to take a walk through the city. Rijeka is a big town so we just can walk through the main strain, Corso, and then go back to the station to take the bus. Finally we arrive to Pula at 10.30 p.m, our ass hurts and we have no place to sleep tonight. We ask in a bar near the station and they recommend us to go to the city centre and look for something there. Fortunately Pula is quite small, so we just have to walk for 10 minutes to find the city centre. There we find Hotel Riviera, a huge building that seems to be very expensive but in fact it's just average and the hotel, the staff and the rooms are nice. Twin room with private bathroom and breakfast included is about 20€ per person, so we will stay here tonight.We feel like giving ourselves a treat!July 29 Let's do some sightseeing today! The town of Pula is totally amazing! it's quite small but it has some interesting things to see: the most important building in Pula is the Arena (just like Roma's Colosseum). Walking through the cobbled streets you can find The Twin Gates, the Triumph Arch, the City Hall, the Cathedral and Santa Maria Formosa Chapel.  There's a lot of tourists but it's not tiring, besides the town still preserves its charming and its provincial touch, which I think is great. All the houses are low and are painted with bright colours. Some of the buildings are a bit ruined but I think it gives character to the town. I really like Pula, it's a place I never thought I'd travel and now that I'm here I feel I could live here for all my life. At 7.30 p.m we go to the hotel, carry our backpacks and go to the bus station to buy tickets to Rovinj, another istrian town located in the north of Pula, just 45 minutes away (ticket: 4,80€). 
]]> Relax by the lakeshore — Keszthely, Lake Balaton, Hungary http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chinaski/8/1250895912/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chinaski/8/1250895912/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chinaski/8/1250895912/tpod.html Fri, 21 Aug 2009 20:17:50 -0400 A piece of Europe

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Keszthely, Lake Balaton, Hungary

July 26We say goodbye to Budapest and go to Keleti Train Station to take a train to Keszthely, a town located at the shores of Lake Balaton, aprox. 3 hours far from Budapest. Lake Balaton is the biggest fresh water lake in Central Europe and one of the biggest in the continent.The train goes from Budapest to Balatonszentgeorgy and, from there, we have to take another train to Keszthely.  We arrive at our destination at 5 p.m and we don't place no place to sleep tonight. Right outside the train station we look for some tourist office but there's absolutely nothing, so we start walking throught Martirok utca, the street that goes from the station to the town centre and soon we find a student dormitory. We're lucky because it's a good place, perfectly located and it just costs 8€ per person per night (in a private room) -the name's below the text-.After leaving our bags int he room and loaf a bit, we go to the lakeshore and get surprised by the lively atmosphere that we find there. Keszthely is a summer village, so now it's full of tourists and, consequently, full of shops, restaurants, cafés and ice-cream parlors. At 8 p.m a rock band is playing in a small stage installed by the shore of the lake. Very beautiful background! We were a litlle bit worried because some hungarian people had told us that towns around Balaton were very expensive, so we thought we'd find prohibitive prices, and I suppose that's true for hungarian standard of living, but for western european people this area is quite cheap. As spaniards, we found Keszthely was a quite cheap place!July 27We sleep till late and then we go for a swim in the lake. The atmosphere is very relaxing and the water is amazingly warm. We spend the whole morning sunbathing and swimming on the clear waters of the lake and at 4.30 p.m we go for a walk through the esplanade. The town is lovely and impeccable, full of tourists (the great majority of them in their 60's) but it doesn't matter. Later we buy a delicious chocolate pastry in the supermarket and have our first meal of the day sitting on a bank in front of the lake. Woaahh...Once we get our strength back we walk to the town centre. Keszthely is a small town so you can visit it in just a few hours.Its pride is the Festetics Castle, which is located on top of the town. It has big and beautiful gardens and from there you can have a great outlook of the whole town. Apart from that, Keszthely is just its cute houses, its shops, its cafés, a church and the Balaton Museum.At night we have already seen everything in the town centre, so we go to the hostel, take a shower and then go back to the lakeshore to eat something. We sit outside a restaurant called "Party Sarda", one of the cheapest in the area. It's a quite charming place, the food is good and the staff is kind. My friend has a typical goulash (a thick soup made with beef, potatoes and vegetables seasoned with paprika) and I have two palacsinta (rolle pancakes filled with cottage cheese). My meal just costs 350 forints (= 1,70€ aprox) and it's delicious. After having supper we go to a bar to have a drink and soon after midnight we go to bed. Tomorrow we're going to Croatia and we have to stay at the train station at 8 in the morning!
]]> Budapest: 2 cities in 1 — Budapest, Hungary http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chinaski/8/1250874542/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chinaski/8/1250874542/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chinaski/8/1250874542/tpod.html Fri, 21 Aug 2009 16:19:43 -0400 A piece of Europe

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Budapest, Hungary

July 22Discovering Budapest.The first thing we have to do today is going to a exchange office to get forints. We're lucky and our hostel is located in an area which is full of them. Once done that, we go to the Synagogue; it's the biggest one in Europe and the third biggest in the world. Hungary has a harsh story in relation with the holocaust and the nazism, and visiting the Synagogue is a good way of understanding a very important part of the country's history. The ticket is just 3€ aprox. and you're allowed to visit the synagogue, the garden and the jewish museum. I'm not jewish but the visit there really touched me... That stage of the history is so incomprehensible...Later we walk to the Parliament because we've read that at 4 p.m there are free guided tours in spanish but when we arrive the tickets have run out so we'll have to come back tomorrow.Then we walk to Deák Ter, the nerve centre of Budapest, meeting point of the locals and a seething mass of people. If you feel attracted by the skaters, then go there! hehe...After that we go to the hostel to get a shower (the heat is stifling!) and then go out to have a drink. We cover the route of clubs: Instant - Rocktogon - Morrisons. Budapest is a very lively city!! Club after club we get quite drunk and can't remember a lot of that night, sorry ;)July 23Oh.. dear... Big hangover today :SWe stay dying in the hostel till 2 p.m and then go to the Parliament to attend the free guided tour in our language. It starts at 4 p.m so we have time enough to go for a walk in the surroundings. The guided tour takes about 50 minutes and it's really interesting. The guy that was our guide was really funny and sarcastic hehe. At 5 p.m we have lunch at a hungarian restaurant located in the Buda side, next to the famous Chain Bridge, and we have an excellent meal for only 5€ aprox. Once we've stuffed ourselves, we take the metro and go to Varosliget (the City Park). By the way, is absolutelly imposible to get onto the metro without paying: there are ticket inspectors at the entrance, at the exit and sometimes in the change of metro lines in Deák Ter. So you always have to buy a ticket at the ticket office, and it's not what I would call cheap... 300 forints! (1,15€ aprox). Just if you were considering...Where were we?... Ah, yeah. We go to Varosliget, a big park with a lake where some people was fishing. It's not a bad place but it's a little bit dirty.Then we walk through Andrassi Avenue, the most elegant avenue in the city.At night we go to Szimpla club and we just freak out. That's the coolest place I've ever been! It's huge and it's decorated in a amazing crazy way! We sit on an old bathtub turned into a sofa, So cool!! there is an open courtyard too, where you can sit down on a bodywork of an old communist car. Crazy! The prices are average and it's a great place to spend a laid-back night.July 24 Today we go to Buda side of the city. Budapest is, in fact, two cities in one: Buda, which is like a small village with low houses and village atmosphere, and Pest, where you can find the stately buildings and the bustle. I like Pest 'cause it's full of life, but Buda is soooo beautiful!! it's a pleasure to wakk through the cosy, cobbled, narrow streets and get in the small shops and art galleries.We take the funicular to go to Buda Castle. The funicular is expensive and takes less than 1 minute to arrive to the Castle, so I think it really isn't worth it... It's better to walk up through some of the paths. It's easy, nice and free!In Buda we also visit the Citadel, St. Mattyas Church and Budavar (Fishermen's Bastion). Budavar is especially pretty, it looks like a fairy tale's castle or a Disneyland set, but it's real!! At dusk we go to the hostel and have a rest for a while.At night, before going out, we drink a bottle of sangria and then we're ready to party. We go to Szimpla (yeah, we are "regular customers" now hehe), have some beers and then we move to Mumus, a really cool place where you can drink and dance on the dance floor. A hungarian guy tells us that Mumus in hungarian language means the childish way to say "monster", like the "bogeyman" in english or the "coco" is spanish. I always good to know things like that ;)Finally we go to a electronics disco. I can't remember the name but I think it was something like Gödör... but I'm not sure, whatever! it has a flat roof on top.Whoaaah the night is so long in this city! At 5 o'clock in the morning the disco closes, so we go to a never-closing-bar to have the last drink.We go off to bed at 8 in the morning. In theory we wanted to go to a free walking tour through the city at 10.30h but, let's be realistic, we're going to sleep till midday!July 25And sure enough! we sleep till midday, get a cold shower and carry our hangover to Keleti Train Station. Tomorrow we're leaving to Keszthely, a town located 100km far from Budapest, so we want to buy the tickets now, just in case.With the tickets in our hands we go to eat hungarian fast-food: a lángos, that consist in a kind of flat fried bread, made of potato. You can eat it plain or covered with different ingredients as cheese, sour cream, meat, tomato, etc. It's really tasty but a bit heavy, not too good if you have a big hangover... uhm... But if you're stomach is in good condition, you shouldn't fail to try it. It's cheap (the plain one costs less than 1€ and with cheese or other ingredients it's less than 2€) and you'll have you're stomach full till the next day!Later we go to Marguerite Sziget, an island in the middle of the Danube river, in the north extreme of the city. That's the perfect place for relax and cheerfully lie on your back, doing nothing just hearing the water of the big fountain and listen to classical music. Oh my goodness! I would stay this way forever but a couple of hours later we go for a walk through the island. There's a very lively atmosphere; you can hire a bike or a golf car and go deep into the vegetation, buy sweets and cotton candy and much more.At evening we go to the hostel. I wear my contact lens on for 32 hours and my eyes are gonna rot.Another shower and we go out to eat something and have a drink.We end up in Rocktogon again. If you like metal & hard rock music, then that's your place. I was in heaven there! Great music, funny people and admission is just 300 forints (1,15€). In principle we wanted to be back in the hostel early, but finally we go off to bed at 5 in the morning. Pffff... and tomorrow we have to wake up early because the check out is before 10.30 a.m!
]]> Here I go again! — Vienna, Vienna, Austria http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chinaski/8/1250706690/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chinaski/8/1250706690/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chinaski/8/1250706690/tpod.html Thu, 20 Aug 2009 20:02:21 -0400 A piece of Europe

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Vienna, Vienna, Austria

July 18Vienna, nice to see you... again. I was in the austrian capital last summer with some friends but, as the city is just 1 hour far from Bratislava, we've decided to spend a few days (my friend has never been in Austria, that's basically why we're here now...)We arrive in the evening and it's raining cats and dogs, so we stay in the hostel's room till it ease up. Later we go to a jazz club located near the hostel. Nothing special.July 19 C'mon boy, put on your tourist outfit and go burn the city! Today the sun shines so we go to Schonbrunn Palace and stay there til 4 p.m (the palace's so big and the gardens are a good place to walk or loaf for hours).       Then we visit the Rathaus, the Votive Church, the University and the Parliament.         At night we go back to Rathaus because, as every summer, there are lots and lots of food & drink stands in the city hall square. The atmosphere is incredible; tons of people everywhere, eating, drinking and having fun while an opera is played in a large screen placed in the facade of the Rathaus. It's a bit expensive but you just have to go there to find the essence of a summer night in Vienna! and if you like ethnic food, then you're in the right place! you can find japanese, chinese, indian, mexican, australian, spanish food... sweet or salty, mojitos, caipirinhas, sangría, different types of beer... mmmm a paradise!July 20 Time to visit the city centre. We visit Stephansdom, Graben Street, the old town with its cozy streets and Hofburg's Palace.In the afternoon I take my friend to see the coolest things in Vienna (in my own opion, of course): Hundertwasserhaus and Kunsthaus, weird and colourful buildings designed by the genius Hundertwasser. My friend hallucinates, as I expected. July 21Today, before leaving to Budapest, we go to Belvedere Palace. We just visit the gardens 'cause it's free. Vienna has too many palaces that if you had to see all of them you would get ruined, so I think it's better to visit Schonbrunn Palace, the most amazing of them, and just see the outside of the others. Going by bus from Vienna to Budapest is quite expensive (29€ aprox), so we look for special offers on the internet and we find a place called "Student Agency", where we buy a ticket from Bratislava to Budapest for just 4,30€!! at a bargain!! First we have to go from Vienna to Bratislava (a journey of 1 hour, cost: 6,90€) and from there take a bus of the "Student Agency" to Budapest (journey of 3 hours aprox.) so finally the we just spent 11,20€! It was a great discovery; we saved almost 18 euros and the service was excellent: they show you a movie and they serve free coffee, tea or hot chocolate. Really nice thing! We arrive to Budapest at 23.10h. From the bus station we have to take the metro and get off at Ferenciek Ter stop. The hostel we booked the day before is the Jump Inn Hostel, and it's located just a few steps from the metro stop. Perfect! It's late and we don't have hungarian money (forints) so we can't go anywhere tonight. Tomorrow starts the hungarian odyssey!
]]> The trip officially begins — Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovakia http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chinaski/8/1250703862/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chinaski/8/1250703862/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chinaski/8/1250703862/tpod.html Wed, 19 Aug 2009 14:28:53 -0400 A piece of Europe

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Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovakia

July 17Finally, we're in Slovakia!! It's been hard, but we've achieve it. The city is beautiful, the hostel (Patio) is beautiful, people is beautiful, we are beautifil... everything's great! We're so happy to stay in Bratislava! We are so in a good mood that we buy an ice-cream and go to the stari mesto, the old town.  This part of the city is gorgeous and charming: we visit St. Martin Cathedral, St. Michael's Tower, Primacy Palace, the main square and Bostota street, the narrowest street of Bratislava. We see the super modern Novy Most Bridge but I personally think that it's horrible.                                                                                                       Later we walk up to the Castle and enjoy an incredible outlook of the city. You can clearly see the difference between one side of the city -the old city- with its small houses with cute roofs and the narrow winding streets, and the new city, with modern skyscrapers and the functional buildings made of concrete of the communist period. At night we have a drink in the old town. The place is full of pubs and drinking is very expensive (at least for western european like us): you can have half a liter of beer for just 1-1,50€ and cocktails are about 3,50-4€. Bratislava is a really nice city, but WARNING!: there are cockroaches everywhere!! (yes...)
]]> We shouldn't be here — Milan, Lombardy, Italy http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chinaski/8/1250701320/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chinaski/8/1250701320/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chinaski/8/1250701320/tpod.html Wed, 19 Aug 2009 13:42:19 -0400 A piece of Europe

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Milan, Lombardy, Italy

July 14Well, the plan initially was arriving at Milan at midnight, sleep in the airport and take a flight to Bratislava (Slovakia) at 6.20 a.m but -surprise!- my friend lose her passport so we can't fly till she gets a provisional one. That means we have to go to the spanish consulate to do the procedure. Ok, perfect...July 15Spanish Consulate opens at 9 o'clock in the morning, so we stay in the airport till 8.30 and then go there to do the procedure. There we're informed that my friend has to report the loss of her passport at the police station, submit it at the consulate with 2 photographs and the next day they will give her a provisional passport so she could continue travelling. All right, that means we have to book a hostel for tonight... in Milan! $$$$ The cheapest hostel we find is Hostel Emmy, next to metro stop "Gambara", a bit far from the city centre but easy reachable by metro. It's the cheapest place to sleep in the city, even then it costs 18€. Ouch!July 16First thing in the morning we turn up in the consulate and, three hours later, my friend h as her passport on her hand. Yuhuuuu!! We're free now! but we feel a bit guilty about haven't visited the city, so we decide to go to the city centre and take some photos of El Duomo (awesome) and La Scala (not so awesome, at least on the outside).                                                              Then we go to the hostel, carry our backpacks and take a train to Bergamo, from where we have to take a bus to the airport.  We arrive there at 5 p.m and we're informed that the next flight to Bratislava will departure the next day at 6.20 a.m.                    Cool...We decide to stay in the airport and spend the night there, so we have a lot of hours ahead of us. So baby, make yourself comfortable...
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